Steam coil leakage inside the large liquid sulfur tank
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Our plant has a flow storage tank with a volume of 3,000 m³, and 8 sets of coils are evenly distributed along the bottom inside it. There is about 3 meters of sulfur in the storage tank; due to a leak in the steam coil, the temperature of the remaining sulfur inside remains around 100°C, preventing it from being discharged. I was wondering if any of you sailors have encountered similar problems; please share some advice. The purpose is to remove the residual sulfur, and all the steam coils need to be remade.
It is recommended to use steam; try to find out which set of coils is not leaking by using steam
Internal leakage in the coil of liquid sulfur tanks has not been encountered; the key issue is that it’s difficult to determine which group is leaking.
To detect leaks, we generally close all the outlet valves of the insulation coils one by one, leaving the inlet valves open. After some time, we measure the temperature at the inlet valves of each coil, or use a stethoscope to check for any sound indicating steam flow; the inlet valve of the coil with a leak will have a higher temperature compared to the others, or there will be a sound of steam flow. Of course, another prerequisite is to ensure that the outlet valve can be closed completely
Even if pressure is applied, it’s necessary to determine which group is leaking, then shut that group off and supply steam to the other groups, allowing the material to melt gradually. It seems there’s no foolproof solution; to achieve better results, the steam pressure can be increased a bit.
Do not change the steam pressure easily, as the original design data takes into account factors such as the pipe material, wall thickness, and stress. High pressure leads to high temperature, which can result in safety hazards.
We just encountered this issue as well. How did you solve it? What are the precautions? Please give me some advice!
Remove the insulation from the bottom large tank shell, install a jacket, and then introduce steam into the jacket.